So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

EZEKIEL 5:17KJV
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Ezekiel 5:17 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 5:17 mean?

Ezekiel 5:17 describes how God will send severe punishments—famine, wild animals, disease, bloodshed, and war—against Jerusalem as a consequence of the people's actions. The verse ends with a solemn declaration that these judgments come directly from the LORD.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Jerusalem, warning them about the coming disasters because they have broken their covenant with Him. The verse lists specific calamities that will strike the city, showing the seriousness of the judgment and making it clear that these events are not random but are the result of God's decision.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 5:17

  • "Send" (שָׁלַח, shalach): This word often means to actively dispatch or release something. Here, it emphasizes that the disasters are not accidental but are being purposefully sent by God.
  • "Bereave" (שָׁכַל, shakal): This word means to cause loss, especially of children or loved ones. Its use highlights the deep personal and communal pain that these judgments will bring.
  • "Pestilence" (דֶּבֶר, dever): This refers specifically to deadly disease or plague, underlining that the suffering will include not just violence but also sickness.
  • "LORD" (יְהוָה, YHWH): The use of God’s personal name at the end of the verse stresses that these words and actions come from the covenant God of Israel, making the warning even more weighty.

Why Ezekiel 5:17 matters

  • This verse clarifies that the disasters facing Jerusalem are not random misfortunes but are directly connected to the people's unfaithfulness to God.
  • The detailed listing of different types of judgment (famine, beasts, disease, bloodshed, sword) shows the totality and seriousness of the coming punishment, emphasizing that no part of life will be untouched.
  • Ezekiel 5:17 connects to the wider passage by concluding a section where God explains the reasons for Jerusalem’s coming destruction, reinforcing the message that God’s warnings are clear and deliberate.

Where else these words appear

“bereave” Hebrew H7921 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 27:45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?
  • 1 Samuel 15:33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
  • Lamentations 1:20 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

“pestilence” Hebrew H1698 · used in 48 verses

  • Exodus 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
  • Psalms 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
  • Jeremiah 42:17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

“famine” Hebrew H7458 · used in 88 verses

  • Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
  • 2 Kings 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
  • Jeremiah 29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: